We spent the weekend exploring different stretches of CA 395 along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada. We camped the first night just outside of Lone Pine, and near the foot of Mt. Whitney. Saturday morning we were off to the Mobius Arch (and Lathe Arch) at the Alabama Hills at sunrise, then a quick trip to the trailhead at Mt. Whitney (at approx. 8,000 feet elevation). From there we drove up to Mammoth Mountain and took the shuttle over to Devil’s Postpile National Monument for a quick hike (and pictures), and then back down again to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains. It was too late in the day to make it all the way to the Patriarch Grove, so that’s on the list for our next trip. This morning we were up before dawn to make it to Mono Lake and its unearthly tufa towers in time for some sunrise pics.

Loved where we camped–we’ll definitely be back.

Mt. Whitney as seen from our campsite (you can just see the edge of our tent in the bottom left corner).

Alpenglow on Mt. Whitney.

Mobius Arch in the Alabama Hills, shortly after sunrise (in the first pic you can see Mt. Whitney through the arch).

The almost-hidden Lathe Arch

Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48 states at 14, 497 feet.

Devil’s Postpile National Monument. The postpile is an unusual occurrence of columnar basalt formed after a volcanic eruption.

Ancient Bristlecone Pines are the oldest single living organisms on the planet, some estimated at almost 5,000 years old. Even after a tree (finally) dies, its dense, gnarled wood lasts for millennia.

Looking across to the eastern Sierras from the top of the White Mountains.

Several pics taken at sunrise at Mono Lake, near the Tioga Pass.

We spied a jackrabbit who’d climbed about four feet to perch on a tufa tower.